Veteran Congress leader KV Thomas sketched the contours of a possible Opposition formation against the behemoth that the ruling BJP has come be when he made a call to former party colleagues Sharad Pawar and Mamata Banerjee to return to the Congress.

While a “merger” may not be the most plausible of prospects, a grand alliance is already in sight, with the Congress backing several regional players on the issue of tampering of Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs).

“All old Congressmen including Sharad Pawar, Mamata Banerjee and YSR Congress chief YS Jaganmohan Reddy should join us to fight the BJP nationally. But the best option is to merge their parties with the Congress,” Thomas told reporters.

Congress Vice-President Rahul Gandhi who is facing overt and silent opposition to his leadership also has similar views on the issue. Gandhi, in fact, is even more ambitious in his plans to include regional and national parties and leaders as part of the Congress’ joint action against the BJP. His spiel on Bahujan Samaj Party chief Mayawati, even before the watershed Uttar Pradesh elections, is seen as a definite outreach towards the Dalit leader.

“The BSP government may have committed mistakes in the past but I have great respect for Maywatiji and Kanshiramji. There is no comparison between Mayawati and BJP,” the Congress Vice-President had said.

While Gandhi has held these views for some years now, the common motive for other former rivals to come together is the immediate political necessity to stay relevant in their respective strongholds.

Mayawati’s humiliation in the recent Uttar Pradesh elections, where the BJP walked away with a lion’s share of her traditional vote, has led to a visible thaw in her relations with arch-rival SP. With young Akhilesh fighting for his own survival among a bunch of carping critics within his own party and family, the SP is also amenable to a future tie-up with the BSP.

There is a similar narrative unfolding in West Bengal, with the BJP registering an impressive increase in its support base and Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee being cornered by a spate of allegations in the Narada and Sharada scams and central probe agencies tightening their noose.

Banerjee is in currently on a three-day trip to Odisha, where she is likely to meet Chief Minister and Biju Janata Dal President Naveen Patnaik. After an unchallenged reign in the State since 2000, Patnaik, too, is facing a similar situation in his State. After winning only one out of 21 seats in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections in Odisha, the BJP stood second in the recently-held local body polls. And from a tally of 36 in the 2012 panchayat elections, the BJP has won 294 of 851 zila parishad seats.

Another key player is Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar who is already running a grand alliance government with the Lalu Prasad-led Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) and the Congress. “Being the bigger party, it is the responsibility of the Congress to take the lead in bringing all major non-BJP parties on one platform. I had talks with some Left leaders in this connection and I wish they take an initiative to this effect to throw the BJP-led NDA out of power in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls,” Nitish Kumar had said after the UP election results.